Please refer to the resources to learn more about some of the potential tools you can use to set up your own Personal Learning Network (https://sites.google.com/site/buildingapln/).
Blogs Blogs are great tools to read, reflect and respond to the thoughts of fellow educators and technology thinkers. Using an RSS aggregator makes it easy to collect and read many blogs from one starting point. Ready to move to the next step? Think about starting your own blog to share your thoughts with others!Starting Points Links to School-related blogshttp://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers
Blogs are grouped by blogger's role and function. Every educator can find something of interest to start reading and following.
Cool Cat Teacher Blog (Vicki Davis)http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
"Teaching content with new tools, enthusiasm, and the belief that teaching is a noble profession!"
Weblogg-ed (Will Richardson)http://weblogg-ed.com/ Author of Blogs, Wikis,Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson blogs on the power of the read/write web.
Learning in Hand (Tony Vincent) http://learninginhand.com/blog/
A blog specializing in handheld, mobile devices as learning tools in the classroom. Most recently focused mainly on iPods.
Delicious and Diigo http://del.icio.us and http://diigo.comHere's a place to store your favorite websites and share them with others.Delicious is a Social Bookmarking tool - find an interesting site, tag it with keywords that are related and share it with others in your network. Diigo takes Social Bookmarking a step further by adding tools for highlighting, commenting and annotating web pages either for your own use or for sharing with your network.Starting Points FCE (Claudia Ceraso) http://delicious.com/fceblog Claudia's network includes over 400 fellow educators. Her Delicious links and those of her network are a one-stop shop for almost any grade level and subject area. Cool Tools and EdTech http://groups.diigo.com/groups/cooltools
A good starting group for Diigo with contributions from over 200 educators.
Seven Things You Should Know about Social Bookmarking (.pdf) http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf Brief article explaining the implications and impact of Social Bookmarking in education Social Bookmarking from the Teaching Hacks Wiki http://www.teachinghacks.com/wiki/index.php?title=Social_bookmarking_tools
Explanation and ideas for using Social Bookmarking in the classroom. iChat and Skype Use these tools to chat using text, audio, or video with other users over the Internet. With iChat you can also send and receive files.Starting Points
Skypehttp://www.skype.com
Across platforms and around the world, use this tool to connect with others for free! iSightEdhttp://k12onlineconference.org
It's like a world-wide FETC available 24/7. A great place committed "to help educators make sense of and meet the needs of a continually changing learning landscape." Teachersonnectinghttp://teachersconnecting.com/
Start here to locate other K-12 teachers for cross-classroom collaboration.
GlobalSchoolNethttp://www.globalschoolnet.org/
They provide content, tools, and resources for collaborative project-based learning opportunities that are proven to be diverse, challenging, and innovative.
Podcasts and Webinars Podcasts are radio-like episodic learning opportunities delivered to you whenever you want to listen and/or watch. Webinars provide a somewhat similar experience, however, they are conducted in real-time and often provide an opportunity for participation. Starting Points
Part of the iTunes Store, these podcasts feature free lectures, language lessons, audiobooks, and more, that you can enjoy on your computer or on the go. Explore educational audio and video files from top universities, museums and public media organizations from around the world. K12 Onlinehttp://k12onlineconference.org
It's like a world-wide FETC available 24/7. A great place committed "to help educators make sense of and meet the needs of a continually changing learning landscape."
EPN Webhttp://epnweb.org/
This site is jam packed with content to teach with and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st Century.
UStream Weblogg-ed TVhttp://www.ustream.tv/channel/weblogg-ed-tv
By combining ustream with the use of Twitter, one is able to reach thousands, make connections, and get involved in profound conversations related to education, politics, history. Learning becomes authentic when students are able to participate in live Web TV with global audiences.
Wikis and NingsWikis are collaborative websites that users can create and edit together. A Ning is more like a social community for sharing conversations with other users who share a common interest.Starting Points Classroom 2.0 Ning http://www.classroom20.com/ A great place for building contacts with other educators who are interested in using Web 2.0 tools. A weekly live show on Saturdays gives members a chance to communicate and learn together. ISTE Ning http://www.iste-community.org
A new Ning created by ISTE to promote communication among ISTE members. Special Interest Groups for Tech Coordinators, 1:1 and more give an opportunity for focused conversations.
Classroom 2.0 Wiki http://wiki.classroom20.com/
A wiki devoted to "building resources for the classroom and professional-development use of Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies."
Build your own collaborative website/web community Most of these services will remove the ads from your site for free with proof of your educational status.
Ning http://www.ning.com
Wetpaint http://www.wetpaint.com
Wikispaces http://www.wikispaces.com
PBWiki http://www.pbwiki.com
Apple Learning Interchange Enjoy great content, meet others, and collaborate online in this one-stop-shop community of educators.
Starting Points
Apple Learning Interchange (ALI) http://ali.apple.com 1. Sign up for a free account. 2. Search for free content. 3. Find other professionals with similar interests and join Groups.
Education Communities Enjoy great content, meet others, and collaborate online in other communities specifically designed for teachers.Starting Points
TeachersConnecting http://teacnersconnecting.com Looking for a classroom collaboration partner? This site will help you find other classes around the globe for project-based activities.
Please refer to the resources to learn more about some of the potential tools you can use to set up your own Personal Learning Network (https://sites.google.com/site/buildingapln/).
Twitter and Plurkhttp://www.twitter.com and http://www.plurk.com Connect with other learners in 140 chartacter bites of conversation.Starting Points
Twitter in Plain English http://www.commoncraft.com/Twitter
Brief and engaging video look at how Twitter works.
Twittering not Frittering http://www.edutopia.org/twitter-professional-development-technology-microblogging
Explanation of how Twitter can be used as a professional development tool.
TwittGroups ADE and Teachers http://twittgroups.com/groups/ade and http://twittgroups.com/groups/teachers
Listing of many Apple Distinguished Educators and Teachers who are using Twitter
PR 2.0: Twitter Tools for Community and Communications Professionals http://www.briansolis.com/2008/10/twitter-tools-for-community-and.html
Many free tools and applications to help make twitter a more effective community and communication tool.
Blogs
Blogs are great tools to read, reflect and respond to the thoughts of fellow educators and technology thinkers. Using an RSS aggregator makes it easy to collect and read many blogs from one starting point. Ready to move to the next step? Think about starting your own blog to share your thoughts with others!Starting Points
Links to School-related blogs http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers
Blogs are grouped by blogger's role and function. Every educator can find something of interest to start reading and following.
50 Useful Blogging Tools: (fromTeaching Tips.net) http://www.teachingtips.com/blog/2008/07/21/50-useful-blogging-tools-for-teachers/
Tips on tools, safety. and getting students involved in blogging.
Cool Cat Teacher Blog (Vicki Davis) http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
"Teaching content with new tools, enthusiasm, and the belief that teaching is a noble profession!"
Weblogg-ed (Will Richardson) http://weblogg-ed.com/
Author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson blogs on the power of the read/write web.
Learning in Hand (Tony Vincent) http://learninginhand.com/blog/
A blog specializing in handheld, mobile devices as learning tools in the classroom. Most recently focused mainly on iPods.
Learning.now http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/
PBS Blog by Andy Carvin that examines current trends in learning with technology.
Free Technology for Teachers http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
Ideas and links to free teaching resources located around the web.
RSS Aggregators
Bloglines: http://bloglines.com
Google Reader: http://reader.google.com
Pageflakes: http://pageflakes.com
Netvibes: http://netvibes.com
Become a Blogger Blogger: http://blogger.com
Wordpress: http://wordpress.com
Edublogs: http://edublogs.org
Delicious and Diigo
http://del.icio.us and http://diigo.com Here's a place to store your favorite websites and share them with others. Delicious is a Social Bookmarking tool - find an interesting site, tag it with keywords that are related and share it with others in your network. Diigo takes Social Bookmarking a step further by adding tools for highlighting, commenting and annotating web pages either for your own use or for sharing with your network.Starting Points
FCE (Claudia Ceraso) http://delicious.com/fceblog
Claudia's network includes over 400 fellow educators. Her Delicious links and those of her network are a one-stop shop for almost any grade level and subject area.
Cool Tools and EdTech http://groups.diigo.com/groups/cooltools
A good starting group for Diigo with contributions from over 200 educators.
Seven Things You Should Know about Social Bookmarking (.pdf) http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf
Brief article explaining the implications and impact of Social Bookmarking in education
Social Bookmarking from the Teaching Hacks Wiki http://www.teachinghacks.com/wiki/index.php?title=Social_bookmarking_tools
Explanation and ideas for using Social Bookmarking in the classroom.
iChat and Skype
Use these tools to chat using text, audio, or video with other users over the Internet. With iChat you can also send and receive files.Starting Points
Skype http://www.skype.com
Across platforms and around the world, use this tool to connect with others for free!
iSightEd http://k12onlineconference.org
It's like a world-wide FETC available 24/7. A great place committed "to help educators make sense of and meet the needs of a continually changing learning landscape."
Teachersonnecting http://teachersconnecting.com/
Start here to locate other K-12 teachers for cross-classroom collaboration.
GlobalSchoolNet http://www.globalschoolnet.org/
They provide content, tools, and resources for collaborative project-based learning opportunities that are proven to be diverse, challenging, and innovative.
Podcasts and Webinars
Podcasts are radio-like episodic learning opportunities delivered to you whenever you want to listen and/or watch. Webinars provide a somewhat similar experience, however, they are conducted in real-time and often provide an opportunity for participation.
Starting Points
Part of the iTunes Store, these podcasts feature free lectures, language lessons, audiobooks, and more, that you can enjoy on your computer or on the go. Explore educational audio and video files from top universities, museums and public media organizations from around the world.
K12 Online http://k12onlineconference.org
It's like a world-wide FETC available 24/7. A great place committed "to help educators make sense of and meet the needs of a continually changing learning landscape."
EPN Web http://epnweb.org/
This site is jam packed with content to teach with and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st Century.
UStream Weblogg-ed TV http://www.ustream.tv/channel/weblogg-ed-tv
By combining ustream with the use of Twitter, one is able to reach thousands, make connections, and get involved in profound conversations related to education, politics, history. Learning becomes authentic when students are able to participate in live Web TV with global audiences.
Wikis and NingsWikis are collaborative websites that users can create and edit together. A Ning is more like a social community for sharing conversations with other users who share a common interest.Starting Points
Classroom 2.0 Ning http://www.classroom20.com/
A great place for building contacts with other educators who are interested in using Web 2.0 tools. A weekly live show on Saturdays gives members a chance to communicate and learn together.
ISTE Ning http://www.iste-community.org
A new Ning created by ISTE to promote communication among ISTE members. Special Interest Groups for Tech Coordinators, 1:1 and more give an opportunity for focused conversations.
Classroom 2.0 Wiki http://wiki.classroom20.com/
A wiki devoted to "building resources for the classroom and professional-development use of Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies."
Build your own collaborative website/web community
Most of these services will remove the ads from your site for free with proof of your educational status.
Ning http://www.ning.com
Wetpaint http://www.wetpaint.com
Wikispaces http://www.wikispaces.com
PBWiki http://www.pbwiki.com
Apple Learning Interchange
Enjoy great content, meet others, and collaborate online in this one-stop-shop community of educators.
Starting Points
Apple Learning Interchange (ALI) http://ali.apple.com
1. Sign up for a free account.
2. Search for free content.
3. Find other professionals with similar interests and join Groups.
Education Communities
Enjoy great content, meet others, and collaborate online in other communities specifically designed for teachers.Starting Points
TeacherShare (Scholastic) http://teachershare.scholastic.com
Connect with other classroom teachers as you share lesson plans online.
TeachersConnecting http://teacnersconnecting.com
Looking for a classroom collaboration partner? This site will help you find other classes around the globe for project-based activities.
PBS Teachers Connect http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/
Discussion boards, resource sharing and comunication with other PBS teachers.
TeacherTube** http://teachertube.com
Watch video creations from other classrooms, then upload and share your own.